The Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and engineering
stakeholders on Saturday planted 5,000 trees at Kona Baridi in Ngong Hills.
Speaking during the event, EBK Registrar Eng. Margaret Ogai
said the initiative is part of a move to supports the government’s Greening
Kenya Agenda.
She said it is aimed at planting at least 200,000 trees to
bolster the conservation of the Ngong Hills Forest reserve.
“We are thankful as all these trees planted will bolster
conservation efforts of the Ngong Hills Forest reserve. The Board presently has
a target of planting 200,000 trees in line with the Government’s Greening Kenya
Agenda,” Ogai said.
The tree planting was part of activities ahead of the 6th
Engineering Partnerships (EPC) Convention 2025.
The 6th EPC 2025 will be held at the Edge Convention Centre
in Nairobi from May 7 to May 9, 2025.
The convention will bring together over 1,000 professional
engineers including delegates and policymakers from Africa and beyond.
Over 100 engineering companies working in Kenya are expected
to participate.
According to the Chairman of the Board, Eng Erastus Mwongera,
the convention will among other things re-examine how engineers in Kenya and
their global counterparts can play greater role in the digitisation economic
production.
He stated this also aligns with the Bottom Up Economic
Agenda.
“The Theme of 6th EPC 2025 is “Engineering a Digital World”.
Engineers are convening for the whole week this coming week to re-examine how
engineers in Kenya and their global counterparts can play greater role in the
digitization our economic production as a nation, central to the Bottom Up
Economic Agenda of the Kenya Kwanza administration,” Mwongera said.
EBK chief executive, Ogai further mentioned that a lot of
work has been going on behind the scenes, which will see Kenyan Engineers have
expanded increased opportunities by way of export, once they join the Washington
accord.
“We have worked very hard as a regulator with the Graduate
Engineers Internship (GEIP) Program, other programs of the Board to raise the
number of professional engineers in Kenya to over 10,000 as per UNESCO
recommended ratio of 1 Engineer to 5,000 people. We have strengthened
accreditation with engineering schools in the country and look forward to
export Kenyan Engineering talent to the world this year in June when Kenya
officially joins the Washington accord, thereby expanding employment
opportunities for our graduates globally,” Ogai added.